Kona Pics!

Before The Race

Alcatraz

Well, the heading says "Before The Race", and this was on the flight to San Fran. Lower left is the Golden Gate bridge, middle right is the infamous prison island of Alcatraz. The also-infamous triathlon known as Escape from Alcatraz takes place here. Athletes jump off of a perfectly-good boat just off Alcatraz' rocky shores, swim to the mainland, then complete one of the hardest bike and run courses in the short course triathlon world. Yes, despite it favoring the stronger swimmers, it is on my to-do list.

The view from the kitchen of my third-floor condo on Ali'i Drive. I left the lanai (deck) doors open all week, so I could hear the ocean at all times.

The man-made beach below, with barbecues, picnic tables and beach loungers. The barbecues were in demand every night for al fresco dining, complete some nights with spectacular sunsets.

The view to the south, overlooking the condo pool in the foreground and the public shore access pool in the background. The shore pool is fed by the ocean tide spilling over the end, and is often full of fish. It's about 20m long, and I enjoy swimming in it more than the condo pool.

The volcano Mauna Loa makes a rare early-morning appearance before the vog (volcanic fog) rolls in.

DigMe Beach, the site of the swim start. The Kona pier, site of the transition zones (ie: the bike parking lot) is on the immediate left. This is a great place to check out the fittest in the world, of the opposite sex. (and the same sex, if that's your preference.) Thus the name.

I referred to the Kona pier as the center of the triathlon universe, but it is only so on race day. Before and after, Lava Java is really it. An iconic meeting place, you can rub shoulders with the top pros in the world, and meet your buddies for an awesome breakfast and superb Kona coffee. Just across from the ocean on Ali'i Drive, and a short walk from Ironman village.

Mauna Loa from the Queen Kahumanu Highway. The graffiti on the lava in the background is created by race fans using pieces of white corral picked from the beaches. On the Big Island, nature provides her own version of environmentally-friendly spray paint.





The sign marking the entrance to the Natural Energy Lab, the geographical low point in the marathon beween miles 15 and 19. The sun reflects mercilessly off the lava, and if the Homomuku winds are blowing down off the mountain, you are basically running in a convection oven for four miles, at the hardest point of the run. I took this shot from the bike course, but runners actually see it from the opposite direction. The solar panels in the background obviously soak up a lot of Big Island heat!


Can you guess who is a big-time sponsor of the Ironman World Championships? Well-deserved too, their stuff works. Saved my butt in the Lab. Try to get through a race without it!